oh yes, I know I haven’t been posting much lately. not that I haven’t been making anything, but well, it’s just too sunny outside. if I’m being honest, the lack of content around here is mainly due to my wandering mind. right now, I’m quite the happy girl.

plus I’ve got tons of fun side projects. I’ve just received a couple of new moleskine notebooks; I’ve made a set of stamps and I’m working on the sweetest illustration ever for one of my very best friends.

I’ll probably sit back at my desk tomorrow. meanwhile, I hope you’re having a blast, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. xx

I love how making these cards turns me into a relaxed person. finding a subject. sketching the illustration. picking the right colours.

and hopefully printing these out.
they truly make perfect notecards or can even be framed. I already picture one of my walls covered with them.
this is love. I tell you.

number three is delicious flamant rose; and four is trust zèbre. vive le cirque savant.

as you might have noticed, I’ve been high on creating stuff lately. and it’s damn so nice. I feel like a child going through its very first christmas.

exciting!

anyway, the pieces I’m in love with right now are those that that are part of the le cirque savant series. they’re cute little cards that can either be used as wall art, notecards or even postcards.
here is number two: yeah écureuil. love*love.

soon available in the shoppe.

as mentionned earlier, the late afternoon was spent lino printing. my first time ever. and so far I’ve loved every single second.

I only made some test prints, but will totally make the final one tomorrow, or more accurately, as soon as I’ll have decided on which colour to use. greyish beige?
anyway, I took some pictures of the process; hopefully, you’ll find them useful. consider this as a visual tutorial to lino printing.

ps. the design is copyright fanny zanotti © 2008. do not use without express permission.

you’ll need:
- pencil and permanent marker
- x acto knife
- tracing paper
- lino
- gouges, or lino carving tools
- brayer
- acrylic paint

a. draw what you want to print - either on paper or using Illustrator. make sure it is a simple design, in plain black and white.
black is for what will appear on paper.
white stands for the ‘holes’.

b. transfer your sketch to the lino block using tracing paper.

c. carve out the white spaces, do this very slowly, securing the gouges with both of your hands for maximum safety (for your fingers, but also for the lino). don’t try to go too deep, you’ll be able to do that later if necessary.
just start by outlining the main lines with a fine tool, then carve in the big spaces. I found my 1mm gouges to be the most useful, although the wide and flat 8mm one came in handy to carve the surrounding spaces.
for a 20 x 20cm design, this step took around two hours; but then, I’m a complete beginner.

d. cut out the stamp using an x acto kinfe. do a small incision, then break into two part and slice the fabric base of the lino.

e. ink your stamp. squeeze some acrylic paint onto a glass plate. then using your brayer, roll out the paint into an even layer; more than you would think you need.

f. test your stamp by inverting it onto a sheet of paper and applying pressure (use a barren, or failing that a rolling pin). gently lift the lino block and allow the paper to dry.
as you can see from the couple last pictures, they seem to be some white patches inside the black spaces. this is just due to the very paper being torn apart, and won’t show in the final fine print.

happy with your design? then repeat these two last steps with high-quality paper.

spent pretty much all day thinking about being outdoors, and taking polaroid pictures of the surrounding herbs. quite coincidentally, that’s what I did after work.

I just love my camera. and thought I should carry it in my bag all the time.

crema fritta is something I had never heard of until today. and, now I just can’t wait to try and re-create it at home.

everyday, after I park my car and walk to the office, I pass by a beautiful pine tree that happens to hold the most beautiful pinecones I’ve ever seen.

today, I felt so inspired by this tree that I had to rush back home after work, grab my camera and go back there to take some picture. love that kind of now-or-never feeling.
anyway, I did take pictures of the tree; but then noticed how gorgeous the patterns formed by the leaves of the surrounding trees are.

natural patterns are delicate and beautiful. just as every pattern should be in fact. don’t you think so?

I picked a couple of books at a garage sale last week end for barely nothing. in the pile stood this lovely children’s book: daniel et valérie à la montagne.

1981.

and still rocking. and makes me happy.